peace

I Declare War!

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In Genesis chapter 14, we find the first record of war in the Bible. This probably isn’t the first war in history, but it is significant to the text because it now involves one of God’s people. While the kings of the East defeat Sodom and Gomorrah, they take with them Abram’s nephew Lot along with a whole bunch of people. One of the people taken captive escaped and told Abram what happened. He was not pleased, so he gathered his servants (318 who were all trained to fight) and partnered up with some of the guys he lived with and went to war. Abram, the man always trying to seek peace, the one who lied to not be killed by Pharaoh, the one who gave up land to his nephew so there would be no fighting – that man is going to war!

Abram divided and conquered and took back all that was taken, including Lot. The king of Sodom was pleased and came out to meet with him, as did Melchizedek king of Salem and priest of the most high God. Melchizedek brought out wine and bread and blessed Abram, so Abram blessed him back with a tenth of everything (a tithe – more on that later). Then the king of Sodom offered Abram everything he had gotten in battle, but Abram had made a promise to God not to take anything. He told the king to reward the men who were with him with what they ate, but that he wouldn’t take anything.

Talk about boldness, integrity and honor! They go after his family, Abram fights and gets them back. They offer him spoils, but he honors his promise to God and takes nothing – and he tells them exactly why he’s taking nothing. There is no secret and Abram is not ashamed by his promise to God. God doesn’t get mad that Abram went to war, but I’m sure He would have if Abram hadn’t kept his promise or if he had kept quiet about why he wasn’t taking the spoils of war.

Now Abram is clearly the focus of the chapter, but let’s take a second to shine a light on Lot. This guy thought that he had picked the perfect land. It looked good, it was fertile, it seemed like the greatest place. I’m sure it felt like the greatest place until he got taken prisoner!

From this chapter we learn a few things. First, sometimes going after something based on looks alone can end with you being held captive. Do your homework, research some things and ask for guidance. Looking good and actually being good are two different things. Secondly, even the most peaceful ones sometimes need go to war in order to protect family and reclaim what God gave you or someone else. Letting evil win should never be an option.

An Olive Branch and Dry Land

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In Genesis chapter 8, we see an end to the flood. While the flood continued for 150 days, it took 261 days for the flood to calm. And when the waters calm, Noah is cautious and sends birds (first an unclean bird – a raven, then a clean bird – a dove) out of the ark to scout the region and see if there is dry land. The dove came back, after a second trip, with an olive branch in it’s beak signaling that the land had dried and the storm was over. In today’s society, we see a dove with an olive branch as a sing of peace and when fights happen, we say that we should “extend an olive branch” to signal peace. I’m sure that for Noah and his family, seeing the olive branch that the dove brought back was a sign of peace for them too.

But still, Noah and his family (and all of the animals, we can’t forget them) waited for 7 more days on the ark before sending the dove out again. When the dove didn’t return to the ark, Noah knew that the time of judgment was over.

I’m sure when Noah and his family came out of the ark, they kissed the land that they thought they may never see again. Noah made a burnt offering to God, being grateful to Him for his and his family’s safety. God was pleased and said that He would never again curse the ground like that again.

Have you every gone through a season of life where you thought the storm would never end, that the world around you would always be flooded and you would never see the safety of dry land again? I know I have, but when I start to feel like that, I remind myself that I am alive. If I am alive, that means I didn’t drown in the waters surrounding me. It means God gave me an ark, a shelter from the flood. The other thing I need to remind myself of is that it won’t rain forever. The storm will pass, the flood will subside and I will see dry land once more. Be encouraged, God loves you enough to provide you with a way to survive even the biggest of storms!